The viscoelasticity of biofluids, such as blood clots or mucus, is critical to their performance. Measurement of viscoelastic and other physical properties of a patient's biofluids can provide important information to medical professionals and caretakers. For example, the speed and strength at which a blood clot forms provides valuable information that can aid in providing efficient and efficacious treatment to the patient. Prompt diagnosis and medical treatment are invaluable in light the large number of deaths caused annually by traumatic injuries.)
Physical properties of a biofluid, such blood clot elasticity, are typically measured either in an established clinical laboratory or at the point of care (POC). Notably, clot elasticity may be measured within an analytical lab setting using specialized techniques, such as thromboelastography (TEG), to determine the blood coagulation parameters. However, the TEG techniques use a macroscopic quantity of specimen and measure viscoelasticity by applying the specimen between two surfaces which are configured to move with respect to each other in shear (e.g., two concentric cylinders). Such tests are typically performed using desk/table top instruments that must be operated on level surfaces, thereby making it impractical to utilize the present techniques to measure biofluid properties outside of a laboratory setting, such as at the bedside or in the field, for example in the case of trauma patients. Unfortunately, a large majority of traumatic accidents occur outside of and far away from laboratory facilities, thereby rendering the current analytical equipment ineffective for use in trauma-related diagnosis to guide appropriate therapeutic intervention in a timely manner.
Accordingly, there exists a need for methods, systems, and computer readable media for determining physical properties of a specimen in a portable point of care diagnostic device.